Call it Fate
by PrehistoricCat
Summary: Connor mysteriously disappears whilst on an errand for Matt
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Characters are not mine and no copyright is intended**

**A/N: It's been a while... motivation is disappearing and the muse needs hugs, virtual cookies and a swift kick up the backside... or comments will do ;) Enjoy!**

* * *

Abby paced around the room, clutching her phone to her chest and willing it to ring or at least beep with a text message alert. Connor had been away for almost sixteen hours now, and other than the text he'd sent her when he stopped at the motorway services for a coffee, there'd been nothing.

She called Matt to see if he'd heard anything from Connor since the reason he'd driven up to Blackburn in the first place was on an errand from Matt. "He did say he would call in on his mum whilst he was up there," Matt tried to reassure her. "Maybe he's just lost track of the time?"

"It's not like him. He's usually texting me all the time when he's just gone off to the comic mart with Duncan. Something's wrong, Matt."

"Let me call the lab and see what time he picked up the prototypes. I'll call you back."

She put the phone down and waited anxiously for Matt to call her. The lab in Blackburn had developed some new devices that Matt had hoped could be used in conjunction with the EMDs. He was going to arrange for a courier to collect them, but when Connor found out where the lab was, he had volunteered to go himself so that he could call in on his mum. Abby knew she should have gone with him, but he'd insisted it wasn't necessary.

The phone rang and she answered immediately. "Please tell me he's OK?"

"He's not showed up at the lab," Matt said, the concern in his voice obvious. Connor had left London shortly after 7am. Even allowing for bad traffic and the stop he'd made on the way, he should have been there well before lunch. "Have you called his mum?"

"I didn't want to worry her," Abby said. She knew Connor's mum was frail; Connor's previous disappearance for a year had left her sick with the worry and she'd never really recovered properly. He'd not even told her he was coming to see her since she would she get herself worked up.

"I'm sure everything's fine. He's probably sleeping off a huge home cooked dinner and completely oblivious to the fact that he's forgotten to let you know what he's doing."

Abby sighed. What Matt said did make sense but she couldn't help thinking the worst. How long did it take to reply to a text message? "I hope that's all it is," she said.

"I know it's easier said than done, but try to get some sleep," Matt said. "If there's no word from him by morning, we'll get the big guns onto him."

She tried to take Matt's advice and went to bed, but it was too big and lonely without Connor there and there was no way she'd sleep. The last time she'd slept alone was when he was working on New Dawn and he had shut himself in his lab for hours on end. Perhaps that was why she felt so uneasy about this situation? It was ridiculous, all Connor was doing was collecting some stuff for Matt and visiting his mum, probably deciding to stay overnight when he realised the time had run away with him. He'd certainly get a piece of her mind when he finally called her though.

She must've dozed off eventually because she woke with a start when the doorbell was rang several times. It was just after 2am when she glanced at the clock as she pulled her dressing gown around her. She was annoyed. Not only had Connor come home in the middle of the night, he'd forgotten his key.

"Connor, you're in so much trouble…" She stopped. Standing on the doorstep were two police officers, a male and female. They both had their ID badges in their hands, but Abby couldn't focus on them.

"Abigail Maitland?" The female officer said. Abby nodded, her heart leaping into her throat. There was only one reason why the police would call around at this time of night. "Are you Connor Temple's fiancée?"

"Yes," Abby heard her voice trembling. "What's happened to him?"

"Can we come inside, Miss Maitland?" The male officer said.

"Of course." She stood to one side to let them in, closing the door behind them and then leading them into the lounge. She fumbled for the main light switch and then prepared herself for the bad news.

"There's been an accident," the female officer began. Abby let out a sob and felt her knees give way beneath her. Somehow, she ended up sitting on the sofa and the female officer was at her side holding her hand. "His car was found in a field at the side of the road. From the extent of the damage to it, it looks like he left the road at some speed."

"But is he OK?"

"We don't know," the male officer said. Abby looked at him confused. "The car was found by another motorist who called the local police. There was no sign of Connor, and we've checked at all of the local hospitals. No-one has been brought in with the kind of significant injuries he would have sustained in the accident. We would have been in contact sooner, but once we'd identified who the car belonged to, we had to get clearance from the Home office to get his contact details for next of kin."

"Then where is he?" Abby demanded to know, looking from the male officer to the female who stroked her back.

"A team will be out there looking for him as soon as it gets light enough," she said.

"So, he could be out there, seriously injured? And no-one is looking for him!" Abby couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had to go there now. She stood up and began to frantically search for her car keys.

"Miss Maitland, I understand how upset and concerned you are, but there's nothing anyone can do out there until it's light." The female officer took Abby by the shoulders. "I promise you, as soon as it starts to get light, my colleagues will be out looking for him again."

"But it might be too late by then!" Abby sobbed. She couldn't breathe and the female officer tried to calm her.

"Abigail, can I call you that?"

"It's Abby,"

"I'm WPC Laura Greenfield. Is there someone I can call for you, Abby? A relative or a friend?"

"Matt," Abby said, searching for her phone. He would know what to do, he always seemed calm in a crisis and that was what she needed right now. She found his number easily and dialled it without thinking. He answered within a couple of rings; either he'd had as much trouble sleeping as Abby or he was having a late night working on something as he often did. All she could do was say his name before her emotions took over.

He didn't need to ask what was wrong. "I'm on my way over, Abby. Give me fifteen minutes."

-o-

_(13 hours previously)_

Connor smiled at the sign as he turned off the motorway. He was only about half an hour from his childhood home and the familiarity of his surroundings felt nice. He also began to feel guilty, he hadn't been to his mum's in several months and she hadn't even met Abby yet. He just didn't think his mum was up to it. She barely recognised him these days anyway and last time she had called him by his father's name. Getting her head around him being engaged would just be too much. It hurt him of course, and he was fortunate that Abby understood and didn't take it personally. Her memory had already been poor before he had disappeared for a year in the Cretaceous, but during that time she had deteriorated significantly.

Still, he was looking forward to seeing her again. He'd decided to stop off at the local bakery and get her favourite cake and stay and have lunch with her before he went to find the lab that he was supposed to be picking up the new technology for Matt from. He should be back home by tea time unless the traffic was bad when he got back towards London.

The long country road was a nice stretch where he could put his foot down on the accelerator. He'd only passed two other vehicles on the other side and apart from a large, black 4x4 that had taken the same turning off the motorway that he had, he couldn't see any other cars on his side of the road. The 4x4 seemed to be doing quite a speed and was almost hanging on to his back end. Connor hated drivers that did that, there was no need to be so close and Connor feared that if he had to brake suddenly for an animal crossing the road, the 4x4 would smash straight into the back of him. He decided to pull over a little and let it pass, and for a moment he thought that was what it was doing. It pulled up alongside him, and then to Connor's horror it moved closer to him, almost ramming into the side of him.

"Idiot!" Connor yelled, sounding his horn and swerving to get out of the way. The 4x4 seemed to speed up and went ahead, so Connor relaxed a little. It moved directly in front of him and slowed down, so Connor had to slam his brakes on to avoid hitting it. "What the…?" Connor was growing frustrated. He turned his wheel to move into the other lane but the 4x4 did the same and when Connor tried to go back into his previous lane the 4x4 slowed right down so it was alongside Connor again. He tried to look inside to attract the attention of the driver but the windows were heavily tinted_. Some idiot rich kid driving a vehicle that's too powerful for him to control properly_ Connor supposed. Before he knew it, the 4x4 had hit his front right wing. Panicking, Connor sounded his horn again and tried to slow down to let the 4x4 overtake. It hit him a second time, sending him sideways and almost off the road.

"Stay calm!" Connor told himself. He had to keep his car under control. Gripping his wheel tightly, he tried to work out what his next move should be. If he put his foot down, he could probably speed away, but the 4x4 would soon catch him. It was a chance he had to take. For a moment, he surged ahead but as he'd predicted, the 4x4 caught up with him quickly and hit his right side again. It took everything Connor had to keep his car on the road. He was hit again, and again, and now Connor was growing increasingly concerned. His heart was racing and his head spinning. If it wasn't for the fact he felt he needed to have both hands on the steering wheel to keep control, he'd have reached into his pocket for his phone and called for help. If only he'd listened to Abby and had set up the bluetooth hands free system in the car. He'd never seen the need for it since Abby was usually travelling with him or they used the ARC's comms.

He was now being hit in the side repeatedly and it was harder and harder to keep control. Then there was an overwhelming fear and Connor felt the car leave the road. His mind couldn't quite get a grasp on what was happening, other than the fact the car was rolling and he was being thrown around. When he finally came to a stop, there was an eerie silence. His head hurt and he couldn't feel the rest of his body. Was this what being dead felt like? He tried to call out for help but no sound would come. He really was dead. His thoughts turned to Abby and how she'd take the news.

He was determined not to cry; in the back of his mind he could hear Abby telling him to stay strong. Someone must have seen what happened and there'd be help on the way shortly. He tried to listen for the sound of sirens, or at least somebody coming to inspect the wreckage and see if he was OK, but there was nothing but silence.

"Abby?" His voice was barely there, but he figured if he kept on trying it would come and someone would hear it eventually. The pain in his head was almost unbearable, but he was more concerned about the fact he still couldn't feel the rest of his body. He had no idea just how badly he was injured; perhaps that was a good thing?

Suddenly, he could feel something. A static in the air that was so incredibly familiar it was almost a comfort, yet he knew he should be fearful. An open anomaly in the middle of nowhere; a creature incursion. "Would be just my luck to survive a car crash and then get trampled to death by a T-Rex," he thought. Just to his left he could see a light, increasing in intensity. He turned to look at it, trying to shift himself to determine if it was an anomaly. Right now, an alarm would be sounding at the ARC but it would be a couple of hours at least until the team got here, and by then... He sighed and bit down on his bottom lip to try and repress the tears he knew were building up in his eyes.

The light wasn't what he would've expected from an anomaly though. It wasn't flickering, but was getting brighter by the second and Connor felt like he was being drawn towards it even though he was trapped in the wreckage. It began to dawn on him what it was; when his father had died, his mum had said he'd talked about a white light and that he wanted to walk towards it. A sense of peace filled Connor and the pain in his head eased. He wasn't afraid of dying; beyond the light his father would be waiting for him.


	2. Chapter 2

"You don't have to do this," Matt said softly. He looked at Abby with concern. He knew she hadn't slept without even having to look at the dark circles around her reddened eyes. If she'd had her way, they'd have driven up here last night but he had at least managed to persuade her to wait a few hours until it was starting to get light. He insisted that he drove her, fearing the police would have another car crash to deal with if he let her go on her own.

"I need to be here, Matt," she replied. "The second they find him, I want to be at his side. He's been out there all night, probably hurt and likely cold and hungry." She took a deep breath and got out of the car, striding purposefully towards the gathered group of police officers.

Matt waited a few moments, watching her and allowing her a bit of space before following. The search party were being briefed at the side of the road just by a broken fence. Matt assumed that was the point where Connor's car had left the road. About fifty metres away was a large white tent covering the wreckage and hiding it from prying eyes. A couple of men were stood by the tent, talking and comparing notes on their ipads, whilst another couple were crouched at the side of the road examining the tyre marks and measuring them. It all seemed pretty much to be following standard procedures after an accident of this type.

The search party were beginning to disperse, putting on their high visibility vests and spreading out across the length of the field. Matt and Abby watched in silence as they stood in one long line and began to walk slowly. There would be no stone left unturned in the search for evidence that would lead them to Connor's whereabouts.

The officer who was obviously in charge spotted Abby and Matt and made his way over to them, holding out his hand for them to shake. "I'm Detective Sergeant Walton, Lancashire constabulary. You must be Miss Maitland and..."

"Matt Anderson, friend of Abby and Connor. Do you have any clues as to what happened here?"

"We're piecing it all together as we speak," the detective said, nodding over towards the men crouched at the side of the road. "The team are looking at the possibility that a second vehicle was involved, there seems to be two sets of skid marks running for a good mile before Mr Temple's car left the road."

"Another vehicle? You mean, someone hit Connor and just drove off? Who would do that?" Abby was incredulous.

"It could be for a variety of reasons. Stolen vehicle, kids joyriding, someone driving without insurance..."

"And I take it that no-one has come forward to admit being involved?" Matt sighed, glancing at Abby who was biting down on her lower lip. He knew she was fighting a variety of emotions and trying to remain calm.

"The local garages have all been alerted and asked to contact us if someone comes in with damage that is consistent with a side impact. So far, nothing. As for the search for Mr Temple's whereabouts..." The detective turned directly to Abby to address her. "We did a sweep of the area yesterday, the local hospitals are aware and residents were out looking as well. Today's search is a more thorough one. The people you see out there are mostly police officers, all experienced in this kind of search, and there are also locals amongst them. The farmer and his labourers are searching through all the farm buildings for a sign of him."

Abby nodded. She felt so helpless, but realised that it was best to leave the searching to the experts. She just needed to be held, and wrapped her arms around herself. Matt moved closer and placed his hand on her shoulder. For a moment, she thought it would be nice to just let him hold her, but she resisted. She had to remain strong, and whilst there was still hope that Connor would be found alive she would not give in to her emotions. She knew Matt would be there if she needed a shoulder to lean on, and for that she was grateful.

Abby's stomach growled in protest at not having her usual breakfast. Matt smiled and suggested that perhaps they should go back to the services they'd passed about two miles down the road to get something to eat. Abby refused. "I should be here," she said.

"There's a van parked on the opposite carriageway," the detective said. "They're providing tea, coffee and bacon sandwiches for all of the volunteers. Tell them you're part of the team and they'll let you have some."

"Sounds good, Abby?" Matt asked.

"A coffee would be good, thank you."

"OK, won't be long."

Abby watched Matt stroll away, and then the detective left her to go and speak to some of the team. Suddenly she realised just how alone she felt. Hugging her arms tighter around her body, she slowly made her way towards the tent covering the wreckage. As she got closer, she could see the back end of Connor's car and it made her feel sick. The car was on its roof, the rear window cracked. Moving even closer, Abby saw the whole car, the mangled and twisted metal was barely recognisable as a car. It was a miracle that anyone had survived, let alone manage to pull themselves out and walk away.

Abby couldn't hold back any longer. She felt her body begin to shake as her sobs almost choked her. It was too much, everything seemed to spin and then her knees gave way just before an arm went around her waist and stopped her from falling completely to the floor.

-o-

He'd only been gone for a few minutes since all the volunteers were all out searching and Matt was the only one at the catering van. Abby had only wanted a coffee, but he got her a bacon sandwich anyway. She wasn't standing where he'd left her and for a moment he couldn't see her, then he spotted a police woman with her arms around Abby. Matt hesitated. Abby would hate the fact she'd broken down in public anyway; she'd hate it even more if she knew he'd seen her crying. He slowly walked towards them, catching the eye of the policewoman in the hope she'd at least warn Abby he was approaching.

Sure enough, he heard her say "Your friend's coming back, and it looks like he's got food." Matt could almost see Abby shake herself as she straightened up and moved away from the comforting embrace of the policewoman. By the time he reached them, Abby had wiped her tears away and was forcing a smile.

"You're an angel, Matt," she said softly.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go and sit in the car." Abby nodded a silent thank you at the policewoman and followed Matt silently towards where he'd left the car. She sat herself in the front passenger seat and sat sideways, legs hanging out of the car. Matt passed her a coffee and a sandwich.

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat, Abby. If you don't keep your strength up, you won't be any good to Connor when they find him." Abby glared at him. "At least have a couple of mouthfuls. You might find you're hungrier than you think."

Satisfied that she'd taken a couple of bites, Matt sipped his own coffee and pulled out his mobile phone. "I should put in a call to the ARC," he said. "I promised that I'd keep them updated. Will you be OK here?"

Abby nodded, so he walked away to give her a little more alone time. He wished she didn't feel like she had to hide her emotions. Even the toughest of soldiers needed to cry occasionally, and no-one would think any less of her for getting upset about the present situation. He saw her head dip down and he knew she was letting her tears fall again. Perhaps he should make this call last several minutes and give her enough space and time to let it all out.

"Are you a friend of the victim?" a voice said. It was an older man, probably late 50s judging by his thinning, greyish hair.

"I am, and you are?.." Matt was immediately on the defensive. He'd heard of reporters pursuing relatives of victims for stories, and even insurance companies trying to encourage people to make claims. If this man was going to try anything like that with Abby, he'd soon have him out on his ear.

"Colin Greg. My wife and I were the ones that discovered the crash. We've just been to the local police station to do a full witness statement and we thought we'd come and see if we could help with the search."

Matt relaxed and shook the man's hand. "Matt Anderson. It seems you know more about all of this than we do?"

"The whole thing is very odd, Mr Anderson. When we saw the bolt of lightning in the distance, I said to Penny – that's my wife – that it was weird considering there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Then we saw a glowing light, and we thought it must have hit something and it was on fire."

"Lightning?" Matt was intrigued. The weather yesterday had been fine, no sign of any storm in the air. Back in his own time, people sometimes connected newly emerging anomalies to lightning or electrical activity in the atmosphere.

"I know! When we turned the corner, we expected to see the crops in the field on fire but all we saw was your friend's upturned car in the middle of the field. I pulled over and Penny dialled 999 whilst I went to go and see if I could help. The weirdest thing though, the only thing I could smell was spilt petrol. No sign of anything being on fire, not even a scorch mark on the grass."

Matt's mind was spinning. Had there been anyone other than Connor involved, he would not have given it a second thought, but anomalies and Connor just seemed to naturally gravitate to each other. Matt made his excuses to leave Colin and then called Jess.

"_Matt? Is there any news on Connor?"_

"Sorry, not yet. The police and a whole group of volunteers are looking."

"_How's Abby holding up?"_

"You know Abby." There was a pause. They all knew Abby and he suspected Jess would know exactly how she coping. "Listen, is the ADD working properly?"

"_Of course it is, Matt. You and I ran diagnostics on it only a couple of days ago."_

Matt was puzzled. If Colin and his wife had seen an anomaly from some distance away, it would have been pretty strong and would surely have set off an alarm at the ARC. Maybe he was just clutching at straws and it really was a freak bolt of lightning that they'd seen. "I'm going to send you the exact co-ordinates of where Connor's accident happened. I need you to run a tracer on any possible activity in the area in the last 36 hours. Even the tiniest blip could be significant."

"_OK, but if there had been something, we'd have known about it."_

"Humour me, Jess. And whilst you're doing that, I need you to run a few checks on Connor's emails and computer activity." He could hear her suck in her breath and he knew she was about to protest. "It could be nothing, but I need to be certain that his disappearance isn't connected to something sinister." After New Dawn, Matt believed there was no way Connor would be with-holding information again, but right now nothing was making any sense and anything was a possibility.

Jess sighed. _"Fine. I'll call you in a while with my findings."_

Matt ended the call and turned back towards Abby. He wondered how much of the latest developments he should tell her. It was likely to come to nothing and there was no point in worrying her any more than she already was for the time being. As he approached, he was concerned that she seemed slumped against the back of the car seat and feared she may have fainted from lack of proper sleep and food, but he soon realised that she'd simply fallen asleep. It had finally overwhelmed her. Taking the half eaten sandwich from her hand, he placed his jacket over her like a blanket and tried to adjust her position so that she wouldn't wake with a painful crick in her neck. He'd let her sleep for a couple of hours if possible, unless there was a major development that she should know about.

"Where the hell are you, Connor?" he said out loud to no-one in particular, his frustration about the situation evident in his voice.


	3. Chapter 3

When Connor woke there were two things he was certain of. He wasn't in his own bed and this wasn't the ARC's medical bay either. Every inch of his body hurt and when he glanced down he realised that there was an IV attached to his left arm and electrodes fastened to his bare chest.

"Abby?" She had to be here; even before they were a couple she'd sat at his bedside when he'd been injured. When there was no answer, he tried to sit up and get a better look at the room he was in. He was clearly in some kind of medical facility, but it didn't have that distinctive hospital smell. As he moved, a pain shot through the entire length of his body, taking his breath and making him lie back again.

"Nurse?" Surely he wasn't here alone? Someone must have got him here from the wreckage of the car and tended to his injuries. There was movement at the far end of the room and a young woman came into view. She had a kind smile, but wasn't in a nurse's uniform.

"Hi," she said softly. "I'm glad you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus."

"You were a bit battered when they brought you in. I'll go and tell them that you're awake and I'll ask the doctor to sort you out with some pain killers."

Before Connor could ask who 'they' were, she had disappeared, but reappeared a few moments later with two men. Connor thought one of them looked vaguely familiar but couldn't place him and the other appeared to be the doctor. He shone a light into Connor's eyes and checked the monitors at the side of the bed.

"Mr Temple," the first man said. "I first of all should apologise for the unconventional methods my employee used to get you here. He was told to use any means necessary; I should have specified that I needed you in one piece. It was not my intention for you to be harmed in this way."

"Who are you?" Connor demanded. "And what do you mean? This was planned?"

"All will become clearer in time, Mr Temple. Right now, we need to concentrate on you getting better."

Connor winced as the doctor prodded him. "Sorry," he said. "Your injuries aren't life threatening. A couple of cracked ribs, a few cuts that needed stitches and a blow to your head that will probably give you one hell of a headache for a while."

"Nothing that I'm not used to then," Connor tried to smile. "Has anyone called Abby? She's probably worrying about me by now. I should have been home hours ago."

"I'm afraid not," the first man said. "We couldn't find a contact number for her. I'm afraid your mobile phone was badly damaged in the accident."

"Can I have a pen? If I write her number down, could one of you call her and tell her where I am?

"Of course. Alice?" The young woman brought Connor a notepad and pen and waited whilst he scribbled down Abby's mobile number. She took it from him and promised she'd call as soon as possible.

Then Connor felt a sharp pain in his arm as the doctor injected him with something and it all went blank.

-o-

When Abby awoke, she was initially disorientated. Then she remembered where she was and grew annoyed with herself. Some help she would be to Connor asleep. As she tried to stretch out the stiff knots in her neck and shoulder from sleeping in an awkward position, she noticed Matt's jacket covering her. Her anger shifted from herself to him. How could he allow her to fall asleep at a time like this?

She eased herself out of the car and strode over to where Matt was stood talking to a police officer. She glared at him. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"There was no reason to. You need to rest. I'd have woken you if there'd been any developments."

Abby looked at her watch, it was approaching mid-afternoon. She'd hoped there would have been at least something to go on by now. Matt told her about the conversation he'd had with Mr Greg and she felt a little more positive, her anger subsiding. It was a tiny shred to cling to. "Do you think an anomaly could have pulled Connor's car off the road?"

Matt shook his head. "It would've had to have been huge to have the strength to drag a fast moving car away. Besides, it would've been picked up on the detector at the ARC. I have Jess doing some checks but if there'd been anything obvious she would have called me by now."

Almost as if on cue, Matt's mobile rang. He pulled it out of his pocket expecting to see Jess's name on the screen, but it was Becker calling. "What have you got for me?"

"_Jess said to tell you that she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary on Connor's computer and that there was definitely no anomaly anywhere near your co-ordinates yesterday. The only readings she picked up could have come from mobile phones or electricity pylons in the vicinity._"

Matt frowned. Whilst he hadn't really expected Jess to find anything on Connor's computer, he had thought she'd find a least a small indication that an anomaly had opened in the area as that seemed the most likely explanation for his disappearance. Something was wrong though. Something in the tone of Becker's voice un-nerved him and the fact that the soldier had called him and not Jess told him there was more to come. "Anything else?" he prompted.

"_I thought the town name sounded familiar whilst Jess was running her diagnostics, so I got the co-ordinates from her."_ Becker sighed and his usually confident voice cracked. _"It's a place I know too well, Matt."_

"In what way?"

"_There's been several anomalies in that area previously. They used to open on a fairly regular basis until about 18 months ago."_

"And you've investigated them?"

"_When we were searching for Abby, Connor and Danny... those anomalies lead to the same place as the one they'd disappeared through at the race track." _Becker paused for a moment, trying to find the words he had to say. Matt waited patiently, sensing that Becker needed the time to compose himself.

"_The co-ordinates you gave Jess,"_ Becker continued. _"That's where the last rescue attempt was made."_ Matt closed his eyes as the realisation hit him and he knew why Becker was struggling. _"It was where Sarah was killed."_

"Mate, I'm sorry." Matt wished he was at the ARC at Becker's side so that he could at least offer a friendly hand on his shoulder to let him know he wasn't alone. Matt knew that, like Abby, the soldier rarely showed emotion in public and would be bottling up everything until he could be on his own.

"_I'm fine."_ Becker cleared his throat and the air of professionalism was back. _"I have masses of data on that area; anomaly readings, dates, times, predictions... I can send it all to you if it'll be of any use? Do you have internet access?"_

"Not here, but I suspect Abby won't want to go home tonight so we'll find a hotel nearby. I'll pick it up on my laptop later."

"_Do you think Connor's disappearance has something to do with an anomaly?"_

"I don't know what to think, Becker. Look, thanks for the information. I know it can't be easy. I'll call you as soon as we have any kind of update."

The call was ended and Matt waited for a moment before turning his attention back to Abby. She was looking at him questioningly, waiting for him to tell her what Becker had said. Matt had no idea how much Abby knew about the events surrounding Sarah's death. He doubted Becker would have gone into detail, but it was likely that Abby and Connor had read the files when they returned.

"There's no sign that an anomaly opened here yesterday," he stated. "Mr Greg and his wife must've just seen a freak lightning bolt or some kind of electrical activity in the air."

"What else did Becker say?" Abby was no fool. She knew a lot more had been said than that.

"He has some information about previous anomalies here. He's going to email it to me, so we need to find a hotel for the night that has Wi-Fi access."

Abby sensed Matt was still holding something back from her, but she decided not to push him. She was tired and frustrated that there was still nothing positive to go on. It did seem slightly odd that Becker would remember previous anomalies at this location when she didn't. She was certain that if they'd been to an anomaly this close to Connor's childhood home, they'd have taken a detour to go and visit his mum. At the far end of the field, she could see some of the search party returning and she nudged Matt. They were calling it a day, at least as far as the search in the immediate surroundings was concerned.

Abby marched off to find the officer in charge that they'd spoken to earlier in the day. She wanted to know why they were giving up so early in the day when there was still several hours of daylight left.

"Miss Maitland." DS Walton was already anticipating her question when he saw her approach. He was an experienced officer and searches like this, whilst few and far between, were a part of his job he was sadly very familiar with. Dealing with concerned relatives who felt they should be doing more was difficult. "We're simply shifting the focus of the search. It's clear that there is no sign of Mr Temple here, and we need to regroup and explore other possibilities."

"Other possibilities?" Matt was at Abby's side by now, resting his hand on her shoulder, both in support and as a calming restraint.

"I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but is everything OK between yourself and Mr Temple? No arguments or unresolved issues between you?"

"Absolutely not." Abby was firm.

"And his work. Is everything there fine? I can see from the files my team pulled up that you all work for the Home Office, I imagine that must be quite a stressful..."

"Are you suggesting that Connor has staged his own disappearance?" Matt said, feeling Abby's shoulder tense up.

"It wouldn't be the first time I've dealt with something like that. Martial problems, relationship issues, work stress, money worries... sometimes the only way some people think they can cope is to simply disappear and make sure they can't be found."

Abby shook her head. "Not Connor. He wouldn't do that to me. We're supposed to be getting married in a couple of months time, and our work... we did have a difficult period a few months ago, but that's passed and it's all sorted."

"OK, like I said, I do have to ask these things. It's routine."

"I understand," Abby said softly. "What now?"

"I'm going to send the team off on a wider search now. Knocking on doors in the village, asking people to check their sheds and outhouses, checking in with local pubs, guest houses and hotels – anywhere he might have turned up seeking somewhere to rest. I suggest the two of you find somewhere to stay for the night. Try to get a decent meal and some sleep. I will call you as soon as I have any news for you at all."

"We will," Matt said, jumping in before Abby could protest. He gave her a look and he could see that she had resigned herself to another night without Connor, the fight slipping from her body.

-o-

The hotel was pleasant enough. Abby and Matt had managed to get adjoining rooms with a door that connected the two. Abby had decided that taking a shower might help to revive her and clear her mind, but she kept turning it off, convinced she'd heard her phone ringing. After she'd dried her hair, she slipped her phone into the pocket of her jeans and went through into Matt's room. She needed the company. He was busy on his laptop and hadn't heard her come in, so she silently moved behind him to see what he was doing. When he realised she was there, he hurriedly minimised the document he was reading.

"Matt?"

"It's nothing. Just something Becker wanted me take a look at for him."

"He was going to send you some information about anomalies in the area. Anything of interest?"

Matt sighed. It was pointless trying to keep anything from Abby. She had a right to know, even if it had no bearing on the current events. He opened up the document again and turned the screen so that Abby could see.

She expected to see the familiar sequences of numbers and calculations that accompanied all of the anomaly reports alongside maps and satellite images. This was different; it was text. "This is Becker's field report about the mission where Sarah died."

Matt nodded solemnly. "That happened here."

Abby's mouth dropped open. "The field where Connor disappeared? That anomaly led to the same future where we went after Helen Cutter?"

"Well, it did back then. The anomaly used to reopen regularly, but there's been no sign of it for 18 months. Something's changed. It doesn't exist any more."

"Perhaps not," Abby said. "That driver described an anomaly perfectly. Connor has to have gone through."

"But the ARC didn't pick up anything at all, not even a tiny trace, Abby. There was no anomaly, unless we have a completely new kind of anomaly that we can't detect." As he said it, he knew what Abby was thinking, and it did make sense. Connor had said that after the convergence there was every possibility that the very nature of the anomalies could change and that their equipment would slowly become obsolete unless they adapted it. Matt knew deep down that Connor had to have gone through an anomaly, there was no other explanation for his disappearance.

"Suppose I'm right," Abby began.

"What difference does it make? It won't reopen for months."

"It led to the same place as the anomaly at the race track, right?"

"Pretty much. From Becker's reports it opened about a kilometre away from where they'd found the smashed artefact and the remains of the computer and a version of the ARC."

"Then we can go and look for Connor." Abby smiled. Matt looked at her with a puzzled expression. "The anomaly at the race track is still open, just sealed inside a concrete bunker. Call Becker and get him to get in a demolition crew. He should have the bunker open by the time we get there and we can go through and find Connor." She was already on her feet and heading back to her own room, presumably to get ready to leave.


	4. Chapter 4

Connor was now certain something wasn't right. He'd been drifting in and out of consciousness for most of the day, but during his conscious moments he had tried to ask questions. Had Alice managed to call Abby? Was she on her way to come and see him? Why was he here? Then there'd be someone at his side telling him he needed to rest and he'd feel a needle prick in his arm and he'd lose consciousness again.

This time, he was determined not to let that happen. The well-dressed man who had spoken to him earlier seemed to be in charge, so Connor decided to try and address him directly since the doctor and Alice were probably under strict instructions not to engage in conversation with him.

"Look, I just need to know where I am and whether Abby or one of my friends is coming!" he pleaded.

"Of course, Mr Temple. It seems you're feeling much better, so perhaps it's time we had a talk." The others were ushered out of the room, and once they were alone the man pulled up a chair and sat beside Connor's bed.

"I suppose I should introduce myself properly. I'm Stuart Weston. You and I have met on a few occasions before, Connor."

"Really?" Connor tried to remember. He had looked familiar when he had first come in, but Connor had not really been able to recall why. "The last time we met, I was working in the control hub at New Dawn."

"You worked for Philip Burton?" Fear ran straight down his spine. This wasn't good.

"Until you came along, I was Burton's main anomaly expert. I worked for Prospero for over a year, advising him on what I knew about the phenomenon he hoped to harness the power of."

Connor glared at Stuart. Connor knew other people were interested in the anomalies and would be just as curious about them as he was, but the thought that the man beside him had been involved with New Dawn made him angry and fearful.

"How did you know about the anomalies?"

"Before I was head hunted by Burton, I worked as a scientist for a military project that had its own anomaly that led to the future. That's where we met previously, albeit very briefly."

Connor tried to think. The only military project he could think of with knowledge of the anomalies was the one led by Christine Johnson. He recalled being sent to her offices when the ADD had tracked an anomaly located in her building, but she'd sent them away saying they were mistaken. Weeks later, Helen Cutter disguised as someone else had been taken captive from her hiding place in the future and brought through the anomaly. At the time, Connor had wondered why the ARC had not detected the anomaly other than that one incidence and he'd also worried just what Johnson's intentions were.

"You worked for Johnson? Doing what?"

"Pretty much the same as you and your team," Stuart said, a tight smile spreading across his face. "Except I had an anomaly on site that I could study 24/7 and access to a future where technology was far advanced of anything we had here. Christine was more interested in being able to predict where and when an anomaly would occur, but I thought it would just be easier to open one whenever you needed to."

Connor felt the heat of his anger burning inside. If it wasn't for the fact that pretty much every inch of his body hurt, he'd have been on his feet and looking for a phone to get Matt and the others here for back up.

"I did manage to accomplish something that you never did." The smug look on Stuart's face had Connor's interest. He quirked his eyebrow, encouraging Stuart to continue. "I developed a cloaking device that prevented Christine's anomaly from being detected by the ARC. Very useful. It meant we could do our work without fear of discovery. After her death, our team was broken up but I was approached by Prospero within a month because Helen Cutter had told Burton about my work. He thought the technology in my device could be used somehow to show how anomalies worked."

Connor couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. As if having Helen Cutter and Philip Burton knowing each other wasn't bad enough, the man in front of him knew them both and had also worked for Christine Johnson. It was like a dangerous cocktail of drugs and alcohol that would ultimately lead to destruction. Then it hit them that it was no accident that he was here; his car had been deliberately pushed off the road. This man wanted Connor, and he could guess why.

"Please don't tell me that you actually think you can carry on with Phillip's work? Didn't you see how out of control that thing got? You do know that it almost caused the end of the world?"

Stuart laughed. "Burton was over ambitious and greedy. He seemed to think bigger was better, but my theory is that we can harness the power of several much smaller versions and still get the result he was hoping for without the … unfortunate side effects we witnessed."

"Unfortunate side effects?" It was getting increasingly worse. The man was clearly a lunatic. He could understand the attraction of the anomalies themselves and he could also understand the need to study them and work out what they were; they'd ruled his own life for five years now and he knew in spite of all the terrible things that had happened he'd still be fascinated by them for many more years. But he'd also learnt that you didn't interfere with them, they needed to be respected and left alone to do whatever they did.

"I won't help you," Connor said defiantly. "Abby and my friends will be looking for me by now. It's just a matter of time before they find me. We'll stop you, just like we stopped Christine and Helen and Burton."

Stuart simply smiled and then stood up. "They'll have to find you first, and that will take some considerable time. A cloaked anomaly is not easy to find."

Connor closed his eyes as the reality of this situation hit him. It _was_ an anomaly that he'd seen as he lay in the wreckage of the car after all. Stuart had managed to use his cloaking device to hide it and take Connor through it to wherever or whenever he currently was. The others probably didn't have a clue an anomaly had even opened, let alone even start to look for him through one. He was stuck here; at least until he had recovered sufficiently from his injuries to attempt an escape.

-o-

Becker took a deep breath as he got out of his truck and strode towards the entrance of the building where the bunker had been constructed to keep the anomaly sealed and out of sight. His head was full of the memories of his previous visits to this place and the subsequent failed rescue missions through the anomalies at Christine Johnson's place and the field near Blackburn, culminating in Sarah's death and the reorganisation of the ARC. It had been one of the lowest points in his life, second only to the time his platoon had been ambushed in Iraq and four of the men under his command had been abducted and murdered. It was that event that had led to him leaving his promising Army career for private contractual security work, and then ultimately to his current post at the ARC.

He knew he had no reason to feel responsible for Connor's disappearance this time but he still did. They'd all said that Connor's knowledge could make him a target for anyone wishing to follow in Philip Burton's footsteps, but Connor had refused to let that stop him from doing what he wanted to do. Abby had insisted that she would be able to look out for him, and that she'd ensure Connor was more guarded in the friendships that he made. Yet no-one had batted an eyelid at Connor going off on his own, and Becker cursed himself for not realising what a security risk that could potentially be.

He hated waiting. Waiting for clearance delayed things needlessly in his opinion, especially when lives could be at stake. Matt and Abby were on their way, about half an hour away according to Matt's last text message. If official permission hadn't been received by the time they got here, Becker had decided he'd start knocking it down anyway. He suspected Abby wouldn't wait and there'd be no holding her back.

"Sir?" The voice of one of the soldiers interrupted his thoughts. He was holding out an earpiece. "Miss Parker wants to know why you're not wearing your comms?" Becker practically snatched it from his hand, annoyed with Jess. This was a search and rescue mission; something he was perfectly capable of handling on his own. He didn't need her in his ear, especially when his mind was on Sarah. He was about to tell Jess exactly what he thought but stopped himself. She didn't deserve that. Just because he was having personal issues it was no excuse to take it out on her.

"Jess, I'm glad you made contact," he smiled, hoping he could distract her from chewing his ear off about not following procedures with his well practised charms.

"_Lester says to make sure you don't do anything that he'll regret, and can you make sure Abby and Matt wear their earpieces once they arrive. I need to be able to track where you all are. Losing one team member is bad enough and..."_

"I know, Jess. There really isn't a need for this since it's not an anomaly call, but if it makes you happy we'll all wear comms."

"_Thank you. Let me know when Matt and Abby get there."_

The earpiece went silent and Becker scanned around him. He had a group of men who were all sitting around doing nothing, itching to get going and begin the search for Connor. He made a decision; they would do it now. He had no doubt that permission would be given; it was a mere formality, and he suspected that Matt would do exactly the same. With a nod, the men practically leapt to their feet and were setting up a series of small explosive devices that would blast apart the bunker and enable them to get to the anomaly.

By the time Matt drove up and parked next to Becker's vehicle, the soldiers had pretty much opened the bunker enough for them to see the anomaly. Matt and Abby were handed the standard issue earpieces and EMDs as soon as they were out of the car, and Matt strode purposefully towards the soldiers, trying to raise Jess and Becker to alert them to the fact he was there. Abby had to practically run to keep up with him. She was tired, but grateful that, at long last, they were doing something positive to try and find Connor.

There was something very eerie about being back at the race track. The sound of their footsteps echoed and Abby felt on edge. She was bombarded with memories of the times she'd been here previously; the day her brother had disappeared through the anomaly and then again a few days later when they went after Helen Cutter. It was the start of the nightmare year stranded millions of years from home.

They found Becker stood directly in front of the anomaly, staring at it coldly as he watched his men clear the rubble away. Abby wondered just how many times Becker had stood in that exact spot waiting for her, Connor and Danny to come back through. If her memories of this place were bad, then what must he be thinking right now?

"Fill me in, Captain," Matt said. "Has anyone been through yet?"

"No, I was waiting for you so that you could monitor things on this side whilst I went through with a couple of the soldiers to see what's on the other side."

Matt nodded. "Good idea. We need to know what we're dealing with."

"What?" Abby glared at both of them.

"I'm not putting anyone's life at risk, Abby. My men will assess the situation first and then we'll decide what weapons we need and if we need breathing apparatus or not." Becker nodded at the two men he'd already selected for the job and the three of them disappeared through the anomaly.

Abby tried to follow them, but Matt held her back. "You heard what he said, Abby. We don't know what's on the other side now. We stopped New Dawn, the future has changed and therefore the world through there will be very different to the one that was there before."

"I don't care what's through there, Matt." Abby shrugged him off and began to stride towards the anomaly. "Connor's injured, and every minute we waste is another minute when he could be dying. You can stay here if you want, but I'm going after Becker."

Matt watched helplessly as Abby disappeared through the anomaly too before resigning himself to going after her. If he couldn't stop her, he should at least be making sure she didn't do something reckless.


	5. Chapter 5

Connor stared up at the ceiling, trying to make sense of this increasingly worrying situation he found himself in. At least they'd stopped injecting him to make him sleep, but that also presented another problem. Sooner or later, they'd expect him to start working on this project for Stuart. He could play the 'too injured to move' card for so long, but the doctor that Stuart had looking after him would not be easily fooled.

Of course, he could simply refuse to help Stuart, but he feared the consequences of that. He supposed it would be unlikely that they'd actually kill him; he was the only person alive that knew how New Dawn worked, but they could easily harm Abby if they were so inclined. He could never live with himself if Abby died because he'd not helped Stuart. There was nothing else for it. He would have to try and escape, but he would need help. Even if he did manage to get out of the building, he had no idea where or when he was, and then he'd have to try and locate the cloaked anomaly that Stuart had used to bring him here.

That was why he was attempting to befriend Alice, the young woman who had been here when he first woke up. Right now, she was clearing away the breakfast dishes. "Did you actually speak to Abby yesterday?" he asked, already knowing the answer but needing to start a conversation.

"Not exactly," Alice blushed, swallowing nervously. It confirmed Connor's suspicions that no contact had been made with Abby at all, or even attempted. It also confirmed that he was far from home, not just in miles but in years.

"I thought so," Connor said. "She'd have been here by now to take me home."

"I don't think they'd let you go home anyway, Mr Temple. Your injuries are..."

"It's Connor, and we both know that my injuries are not as bad as they first made out."

"That's not for me to say, Mr Te... Connor. I'm just a student. If the doctor says you need bed rest, then you should stay here."

"A student? So how come you're working here?"

"I'm trying to get into medical school, but the fees are more than I can afford. Mr Weston said he could offer me some work over the summer, get me some experience of looking after a patient and if I did well he'd help pay my course fees. I couldn't refuse, could I?"

Connor smiled. He knew exactly how it felt to be a struggling student; a career path that you desperately wanted to go down but couldn't afford. He'd been more fortunate than most. His inheritance money had been wisely invested after his father's death, giving him a nice lump sum when he turned 18 that paid his way into University without having to rely on loans. He had friends who had had to take jobs to be able to afford even the most basic of living costs.

"Well, if you ever need a reference," he said. "You seem to be doing a great job of looking after me, and believe me, I've been in hospital a few times and know good care when I see it."

"Are you ill?" Alice looked concerned and took Connor's chart from the end of the bed. "Do you have a medical condition that the doctor should be aware of?"

"Not unless being clumsy is classed as a medical condition." He patted the edge of the bed, motioning for Alice to sit down. "I'm bored. Talk to me."

Alice glanced over towards the door anxiously then sat down. "I suppose five minutes won't hurt. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, as it looks like I'm going to be working here for a while, I suppose I should know something about the place. What's it like? Do you live around here?"

"To be honest, there's not much to do. I live a few miles away, but Mr Weston has provided me with my own room in this complex. This place used to belong to a government department that got shut down about ten years ago. I think they were something to do with the anomalies, but they lost their funding and the job of monitoring them was given to the military."

Connor sat up, determined to find out more. A sharp pain shot from his ribs as he moved, and he winced. Alice helped him by propping his pillow up behind him and he smiled gratefully before turning his thoughts to what she'd just said. Why had he not heard of this government department before? The ARC was the only official department in the UK that dealt with anomalies. Then it dawned on him that Alice was talking about a future version of the ARC. It made sense. He'd seen other versions of the ARC before and his mind was briefly taken back to the day that he, Abby and Danny had gone after Helen Cutter and stumbled across an old computer.

Just as he was about to ask Alice what year this was, an alarm sounded and Alice sprung to her feet with a look of panic on her face. There was the unmistakable sound of running in the corridor outside and shouting.

"What's that alarm for?" Connor asked. "Shouldn't we be evacuating or something? It might be a fire."

"I'm not sure, but it's probably just a drill. I'll go and find out." The alarm grew louder for a brief moment as Alice opened the door into the corridor, then it quietened slightly as she closed it behind her. Despite the fact his ribs hurt like hell, Connor attempted to get out of bed. This was the opportunity he'd been waiting for. Whilst everyone was distracted, running around dealing with whatever the alarm was for, he could slip out un-noticed.

He found his jeans and t-shirt folded on the chair beside the bed and pulled them on. They were both stained with his blood from the accident but he barely noticed as he limped his way to the door, clutching his aching ribs that seemed to hurt more with each breath he took. He felt sick and the pain was making him dizzy, but he had to push that to one side if he was going to get out of here.

Connor opened the door and leaned against the frame, trying to decide which way he should go. People were running around, going in and out of the other doors in the corridor as if looking for something. He opted to go left, since the majority of people were heading in that general direction carrying files in their arms. Suddenly, the pain overwhelmed him. He fell against the wall, barely able to breathe and his legs beginning to buckle underneath him. A strong arm caught him just before he fell to the ground.

"Mr Temple, what on earth are you doing out of bed?" The doctor said.

"I thought there was a fire," Connor lied.

"There's no fire, but we do have an emergency situation and I need to get you to somewhere where you'll be better hidden."

"Emergency?" Connor leaned on the doctor and allowed him to lead him down a narrow side corridor.

"We have intruders. They're trying to stop Mr Weston's work, claiming it's responsible for the end of the world. Can you believe that?"

"They'd be right," Connor hissed. His heart felt light. Whoever these 'intruders' were had to be on his side. Perhaps the anomaly team that had been shut down ten years ago had continued to operate independently and had been monitoring Stuart and his activities. He would be rescued very soon.

The doctor pushed Connor into a tiny office. "You'll be safe here as long as you don't make a noise. I'll come and get you when it's all over," he said, firmly closing the door. Connor heard the sound of a key turning in the lock and then silence. Frustrated, he banged his fists against the door but knew it was pointless. No-one would venture down that way whilst they were busy looking for the evidence of Stuart's work; evidence that was being hidden away in a desperate attempt to keep it from the intruders.

Connor had no idea how much time had passed when he finally heard heavy footsteps outside the door. At first, he assumed it would be the doctor, but then he heard Alice's voice. "He's in here. This is the scientist they brought in a couple of days ago. Weston said he held the key to completing the project." The door was unlocked and opened and the sight that greeted Connor made him almost leap for joy.

"Matt! Am I glad to see you! You have no idea..." He moved forward to hug him, but then he stopped. Something was wrong.

"Well done, Alice," Matt said. "Capturing Weston would have been pointless if we didn't have all of the other people involved in custody too." He nodded at a couple of soldiers at his side who moved forward and grabbed Connor.

"Matt? What's going on? It's me, Connor!"

"Have we met?"

Connor was confused. Matt dismissed him as if he was just an insect he'd crushed under his boot. The soldiers gripped him harder and began to practically drag him along. "Matt, please! Tell them who I am!" The soldiers ignored Connor's pleas and marched him along the corridor, with Matt and Alice a few paces behind. There hadn't even been a flicker of recognition in Matt's eyes. If for some reason he was pretending he didn't know Connor, then he was doing an excellent job of it. Puzzled, frustrated and hurting physically and mentally, Connor could do nothing except go along with whatever Matt was doing and trust that it was the right thing.

-o-

It hadn't taken Abby and Matt long to catch up with Becker and his men. The world on this side of the anomaly wasn't that different to the one that they'd left behind. When she thought about it later, Abby realised this was a good thing. Matt had been right about New Dawn being responsible for the destruction of the earth, and by destroying it they had changed the future that they'd previously seen through this anomaly. She also noticed similarities from her previous visits. The layout of the buildings was the same, but instead of being in ruins, this was a thriving business development in the heart of a city much like Canary Wharf in London.

"This way," Becker hissed, motioning in the direction of a taller building that Abby recognised. Unless she was mistaken, it was the building where she, Connor and Danny had found the computer that they used to program Helen's anomaly opening device with the route to site 333.

After an initial annoyed exchange between himself and Matt, Becker had resigned himself to the fact that Abby would not just stay on the other side of the anomaly as he'd instructed. Didn't anyone follow commands any more? He led the way, insisting that his two men flanked either side of Matt and Abby with their weapons raised. This place may have looked benign, but so did some of the war zones he'd patrolled. He was not taking any chances.

As they approached, the sound of an alarm grew louder. Several people ran past, one almost knocking Abby over in his haste to escape the building. The people were carrying bundles of papers, laptop computers and a couple even had what appeared to be hard drives. Clearly whatever they were running from, their work was important to them. Despite the looks of concern on Becker and Matt's faces, Abby was certain that this had something to do with Connor. She wouldn't put it past him to have hacked into their security systems somehow and set off the alarm as a distraction for his escape. She scanned the stream of people leaving the people, hoping to catch a glimpse of him before she moved forward towards the entrance of the building.

"Abby!" Matt called after her, nudging Becker to alert him to the fact she had gone off on her own.

"What are you doing?" Becker snapped when he caught up with her. "I told you that I would assess the situation first."

"Connor's in there, I know it!"

"Really? At the moment, my concern is why that alarm is going off. Those people are running away for reason. There could be a fire, or escaped chemicals, poisonous gas... I will not let you put yourself in danger."

Abby spun around and glared defiantly at Becker. "Can you smell smoke? Or gas?" When Becker didn't respond she turned on her heels and began to march towards the entrance.

Matt stopped one of the men running out of the building and asked if there was anything he could do to help and had the fire brigade been called. The man shook his head and simply said, "They've finally caught up with us. I knew this would all end badly," and he ran away, clutching tightly to his laptop. Satisfied that there was no fire to worry about, Matt motioned for Becker and the two soldiers to follow him and Abby into the building.

There was no sign of security at the main entrance, so the five of them went through unchallenged. "Split up," Becker commanded. "and use your comms. Any sign of trouble, call for back up." Matt nodded and nudged Abby to follow him down one corridor whilst Becker and his two men headed off down the other one.

"What do you suppose this place is?" Abby whispered.

"Some kind of research facility," Matt replied. "Something secret, judging by the way those people were so desperate to make sure their work wasn't left behind."

Abby agreed and silently followed Matt down more corridors, past several doors that they tried to open but found each to be locked. At this rate it could take hours to find Connor, if indeed he was even here. They could have quite easily just stumbled upon something completely unrelated and they were wasting their time.

Just as Abby was about to suggest that they went back to the entrance and regrouped, three men approached. Two appeared to be soldiers and they were propping up a third man who was clearly in pain and struggling to stay upright. Her heart began to pound; she could recognise that mop of dark hair anywhere.

"Connor!"

He looked up and made eye contact, but instead of the look of joy Abby had expected he was warning her to stay back. Matt raised his EMD and Abby did the same. "Let him go!" Matt commanded. "Or we'll shoot."

The soldiers looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, moving to one side to allow two people behind them to come forward. The first, a young woman with long dark hair, stepped forward with her hands raised, wide eyed and mouth open. She glanced behind her at the second figure who also stepped forward with wide eyes and open mouth. Matt lowered his EMD, looking at Abby who mirrored the actions of everyone else. He stepped forward, shaking his head in confusion as he came face to face with himself.


	6. Chapter 6

"_Abby, what's happening?"_

Becker's voice in her earpiece made Abby shake herself out of the shock she'd been in for the last minute or so. "South corridor and second to the left. We've found Connor and... well, you'd better come see for yourself."

She glanced first at the Matt she knew, and then at the second Matt before turning her gaze to Connor, hoping for some kind of explanation from one of them. She could hazard a guess as to what was happening since Connor had spent many hours plotting out various theories about Matt after New Dawn. Some of those theories had seemed very unlikely and she'd all but dismissed most of them, willing to just go with the flow and see what happened next.

It was Alice that finally broke the silence between them. "How can there be two of you?"

"I'm glad someone asked that," Connor piped up. "We should've guessed something like this could happen. It's what happens when you start messing about with time. Diverging timelines, alternate universes in parallel with... ouch!" He glared at the soldier who had dug his gun into the small of his back to try and shut him up. It had worked.

"Release my friend and then I think we need to talk," Matt said, addressing the other version of himself.

"Oh we'll talk, but he stays in my custody. Perhaps you don't realise what he's responsible for?"

"Oh believe me, I know exactly what he's capable of," Matt sighed. "OK, at least call your heavies off him and let his girlfriend look after him whilst we try to sort this out. I promise you that no-one will do anything stupid, right Abby?"

Abby nodded. There was a part of her that wanted to just punch the soldiers and grab Connor, but she also realised that this was not just a straight forward rescue and held back, willing to follow Matt's lead for the time being at least. The second that the soldier's grip on Connor was relaxed, Abby was at his side. He slumped against her, and for a moment Abby tried to hold him up but realised it was better to let him slowly slide down to the floor.

"What have you done this time, eh? Can't even do a simple courier job without getting yourself into bother." She cupped his face with her hand and wiped the single, stray tear that was falling down his cheek with her thumb.

"M' sorry, Abby, I was just driving and this..."

"Shh, doesn't matter." She leaned closer, capturing his lips in a kiss she'd been longing for ever since he'd left home to drive up north. Savouring the familiar taste and warmth of Connor's mouth, she closed her eyes and shut out the confusion that had unfolded in front of her in the last few minutes.

The clatter of soldier's boots in the corridor made everyone turn around. Becker and his men stood there, weapons raised and confused expressions on their faces. Becker looked at Abby questioningly before directing his own EMD at the Matt stood directly opposite him. In response, the soldiers that had been holding Connor raised their weapons and aimed them at Becker and his men.

"Becker, drop your weapon. This is all in hand," Matt said calmly.

"Not unless they lower theirs," Becker hissed defiantly, staring directly ahead at his intended target should things take a turn for the worse.

"Captain Becker, this is an order. Lower your weapons."

Reluctantly, Becker nodded the instruction to his two men and they stood down. Becker kept his finger firmly on the trigger though. The opposing soldiers also lowered their weapons and looked to both Matts who were still trying to work out what the other was doing there.

"In here," Matt finally said, pointing to the side office. The other Matt followed and the door closed behind them.

"Can we at least get a wheelchair for Connor?" Abby pleaded. "He needs proper medical attention."

"No-one is going anywhere until Matt says so," Alice said.

Abby stood up and faced Alice directly. "He's badly hurt. If anything happens to him, I will hold you personally responsible."

"Abby, it's OK," Connor said, clutching his ribs as he tried to sit up. "Alice has been looking after me. She's trying to get into medical school and Weston's been... You're not a student are you?"

Alice smiled. "I met Matt about a year ago. My father was one of the last scientists to work on the anomaly project before it was passed to military control ten years ago. He always feared that someone would try to abuse them if they weren't monitored properly, so he kept up his own secret project with my help. Matt had been watching them too and our paths crossed when we both stumbled upon an anomaly that hadn't been picked up by any of the detecting equipment."

"That sounds familiar," Abby said. "We've been looking for Connor for two days and could only assume he'd been taken through a new kind of anomaly that we couldn't pick up."

"It's not a new kind, Abby. Remember Christine Johnson's mysterious anomaly? That was Weston. He developed a way of cloaking the anomalies for her, and has been using it ever since to travel backwards and forwards in time un-noticed." Connor said, addressing Abby but glancing at Alice occasionally to include her in the explanation.

Alice nodded. "Matt found the equipment that Weston was using and confided in me what he thought Weston was doing. Matt's from the future. His world was destroyed by someone interfering with the anomalies and he was sent back here to the 23rd century to try and stop it from happening."

Abby and Connor glanced at each other before Connor tried to stand up. "I need to tell Matt who Weston is and what he was trying to do." He then swayed and grabbed hold of Abby for balance. "Please, you have to help me talk to both of the Matts!"

-o-

Matt took a deep breath and tried to push his unease at meeting another version of himself to the back of his mind. The priority at this moment was to decide how to deal with the situation; he would get his head around everything else later. "Connor's not the bad guy," he said eventually.

"No? So he's not the scientist that was helping Weston do something to the anomalies that makes them unstable and destroy the entire world?"

"He was taken against his will, dragged through an anomaly in 2013."

The other Matt leaned back against the desk. "That's where you were sent? The 21st century?"

"Same scenario as you I suppose, except the source of the interference was traced to some time around 2012. I thought I'd dealt with the problem when we destroyed Philip Burton's anomaly. I can only guess that we changed the timeline that I was from, and that you are from the new future that was created because New Dawn failed."

"A future that was still destroyed, but by Weston, and your Connor, from here in the 23rd century," the other Matt said.

"Connor's the only person alive that had any idea how New Dawn worked, which I suppose is why Weston abducted him and brought him here to help. The question is, how did Weston know about Connor in the first place?"

"He's from our time, Matt," Connor said, as Abby helped him through the door. "He worked for Prospero, and before that he worked for Christine Johnson."

Matt closed his eyes. Why had he not even contemplated the possibility that there would be others at Prospero with the ability to try and continue Burton's work? They'd not been able to do a full check on the surviving employees after New Dawn since most of them had fled and not returned, and the employment records for the facility were all but destroyed. Had they been able to do so, perhaps Weston would have been stopped before he'd even gone through the anomaly into the future. When he opened his eyes, he could see Becker stood behind Connor and Abby. The look on his face told Matt he was thinking the same, and no doubt blaming himself. Pulling himself back together, Matt nodded to Becker. Playing the blame game was destructive. All they could do now was learn from this experience and examine the implications for their operations moving forward.

"Captain, when we get back to our time, I want you to personally oversee the concealment of the anomaly in Blackburn and the destruction of whatever equipment Weston used to cloak it that remains there."

"Gladly," Becker puffed out his chest. He would not be sorry to see the end of that particular anomaly and move on from the painful memories he had of the place. "And my men will also ensure the anomaly at the race track is resealed once we're all safely back."

"Hang on, let's not be hasty," Connor said. "Ever since we worked out that Christine was somehow managing to keep her anomaly from being detected I've wanted to know how. Can we at least take the equipment back to the ARC for me to look at?"

"I don't see any problem with that," Matt said. Then he turned to the other Matt. "I can leave Weston and any other issues here with you and your team?"

"We have him and his doctor friend in custody already. Alice has been working undercover here for months and knows the operation back to front, she can oversee the closure. The people that were working here are all traceable. We'll recover all of their hard drives and paperwork and ensure it's destroyed. There wont be anyone in this time interfering with the anomalies."

With that, everyone began to disperse and go their separate ways. Abby was anxious to get Connor back to the ARC so their medic could check him over and then get him home where she intended to pamper him and make sure he followed whatever orders the doctor gave him. She knew he would fight her over it; he'd want to be at the ARC helping Matt with the fallout from this, but she would put her foot down. If Matt needed his help, he could come over to them or use Skype. After all, wasn't that the point of having all of the technology that Connor raved about so much?

With the room emptied, the two Matts turned to each other and shook hands. It felt weird and Matt was certain that even the act of being in the same room as each other would be causing all sorts of time related issues. The sooner they both left, the better.

"Disaster averted," the other Matt said "At least in this time anyway."

Matt nodded. "If you and I have anything to do with it, it won't happen again."

"I wish I could believe that." He left, leaving Matt alone for a few moments before he too stepped out into the corridor to go back home. He watched Abby help Connor into the wheelchair that Alice had found for him, smiling to himself. He'd already known how much Abby cared about Connor whilst she'd been helping him to try and find out what Connor and Burton were doing, but the last two days had shown him that they were a stronger couple for that experience, not weakened by it as Abby had once feared. He envied them. He'd had it drilled into him for most of his life that he couldn't get close to anyone and he found it difficult to shed that. Even with Emily he'd not been able to give himself to her completely and she'd grown tired of it, leaving the ARC to go in search of the new life away from her Victorian upbringing that she craved.

"Matt?" Becker said, interrupting his thoughts. "We're ready to leave if you're satisfied that Alice and … you... are going to deal with Weston appropriately."

"Yes, Captain. I'll be right behind you." He watched Becker march off after Connor and Abby and took a final look around him. There were many lessons to be learnt from all of this; the first being that he would need to ensure that some clause was put in place that would mean there would always be an ARC keeping a close eye on what was happening with the anomalies. Then there was the question of what to do about Connor.

-o-o-o-o-o-

It had been two days since they'd found and rescued Connor, and Abby was concerned. After he'd been given the all clear by the ARC medic and told to take things easy for a few days, Abby had taken him home, put him straight to bed and they'd spent the night curled together in each other's arms. Abby had wanted more, but with Connor's ribs still being incredibly sore and any movement making him feel dizzy and sick, anything other than a kiss and cuddle was out of the question. She was happy though. Connor was back where he belonged, relatively well and safe, and as she stroked his hair and watched him drift off to sleep she counted herself incredibly lucky. It could have ended so badly.

Connor had been out of sorts, but Abby had expected that. He'd been through a traumatic experience after all, so she'd given him some space. She'd made him soup for lunch and set up the TV he used for his Xbox in the bedroom so he could watch whilst she did some housework. But after two days, she had thought he would have opened up a little and talked to her about what had happened to him. In the Cretaceous, they'd both learnt that talking about the things that hurt or scared them made them seem less harmful. The strength of their relationship now came from the fact they had known how the other thought and felt.

She'd decided enough was enough. Marching into the bedroom and grabbing the TV remote from him, she sat down on the end of the bed and glared at him.

"Abby?"

"How are you feeling?"

"M' Okay, ish. Ribs are still a bit sore but the doc did say they'd be... that isn't what you meant is it?"

Abby leaned forward and took his hand in hers, squeezing it. "You're worried about what everyone will think?"

Connor simply nodded sadly. "It's alright, Connor. You don't need to be ashamed. Weston was the one at fault, not you."

"You don't get it though, do you Abby?" He sniffed angrily. "The people in the future, they had to send another Matt back in time to sort out the mess... again. A mess I was responsible for... again."

"No, Connor. Burton was responsible for New Dawn, Weston was responsible for the latest disaster."

"And the common denominator is me. Neither of those would have happened without my work."

"But Matt stopped them both. And he will again if he has to."

"Yeah, good old Matt. No matter how many times we change the future by dealing with the likes of Burton and Weston, there will always be someone waiting to step into their shoes. It seems it's the fate of the man called Matt Anderson in every new version of the future we make to be sent back to deal with them... and me."

Abby blinked. Fate. She wasn't sure if she believed in it or not. If Matt's fate was already determined, then why did they, and he, bother to try and change the future? There weren't many things Connor was wrong about when it came to things like this, but she was almost certain that he was on this occasion. She looked at him and recognised the look on his face. He was fighting back his tears, and losing.

"Matt's always going to have keep travelling through time because of what I know. The only way to stop that is if... If I wasn't alive."

"Stop it!" Abby placed the palm of her hand on Connor's cheek, forcing him to look at her. "Don't you dare think like that!"

"Why? I can't undo what I know, and that knowledge will be desired by every megalomaniac in the Northern hemisphere throughout time. All they need is access to an anomaly and they can come and get me, just like Weston did. I'm not afraid of dying, but they'd still be able to force me into doing it because they'd threaten to harm you. It would be safer all round if I was dead."

"You're an idiot, Connor!" Abby released his hand and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "There's more than one way to deal with a situation. Do you have any idea what Matt and Becker have spent the last two days doing? They haven't been sitting around wallowing in self pity – which I might add may have been understandable given that that anomaly in Blackburn was the one where Sarah died, and Matt could very well have just decided to give up seeing as he thought he'd saved the world when all he'd done was prolong it. They've been attempting to hack into as many government and Prospero databases as they can, trying to find out exactly who worked for Burton and where they are now. They're also trying to locate anyone who worked for Christine Johnson, looking for connections to Prospero... it's not easy, even with Jess's help, but they're trying. If you were to help..."

"There's no point," Connor sniffed. "Burton kept me away from all but the most essential members of staff. The only other person I could name on the New Dawn project is April. I was under the impression that all of the others in that lab were just button pushers."

"And that's it, is it? End of? You're going to just give up and kill yourself? What about us, Connor? Our wedding plans, a baby?

Connor dipped his head, silent tears falling over his cheeks and onto the bed sheets below. He didn't attempt to wipe them. After a few moments, Abby moved towards him and ran her thumbs over the apples of his cheeks before pulling his head to her chest and wrapping her arms around him, enveloping him in her embrace.

"I don't know what to do, Abby," he finally whispered.

"Neither do I," Abby replied, stroking his hair. "All I know is, if you give up, then they win. The knowledge you have is wonderful and can be used for great things. You have to believe that. You will work out what Cutter set out to do. The rest of us... we just have to keep you safe. Becker's been talking about improving security around you, setting up CCTV around our flat, making sure you're never sent off on your own like that again..."

"And you're OK with living like that? Having our every move watched by one of Becker's security cameras?"

"If it means I get to spend the rest of my life with you then yes. Yes, I am OK with it."

Connor looked up. The look of complete love in Abby's eyes made his heart ache. He didn't deserve such devotion after what he'd done, but he had it and that was what mattered. His lips sought hers, and when they connected the electricity was almost as intense as it had been that first time they'd properly declared their feelings for each other on a stormy night in the Cretaceous.

"I don't know if I can do this," he said quietly.

"You can. We can. All of us, we're a team and each of us has a part to play. You can call it our fate, or our destiny, or maybe we're just a bunch of people doing a difficult job and making up the rules as we go along."

There was a silence. Connor held onto Abby, breathing in her scent and relishing the warmth of her soft body against his. After some moments he released her and sighed. "Don't suppose there's any of that soup left you made for lunch? And that bread?"

Abby rose to her feet. "Thinking of your stomach? I guess you're feeling a lot better? I'll see what I can find." As she got to the doorway, she paused and allowed a small smile to trace across her lips.

"I love you, Abby. And I'm sorry if I scared you."

She turned and smiled at him. "Love you too. Now, soup."

The door to the bedroom was closed behind her, and she leaned back against it. For the moment, she had her Connor back, but she sensed that the road ahead was going to be rocky and it would take all the energy that she, Matt and Becker had to keep him on the right path and not allow him to believe the only solution was for him to end his life. She had to cling to the promise they'd made each other one dark night in the Cretaceous that whatever they did, they'd do together.


End file.
